Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Cuzzzins

Kaiya has some good cousins. Cousins who humour her, aggravate her, giggle at her goofiness, and know all the fun places to poke at and tease her. Family get-togethers have truly become a place where Jeff and I get a break as Kaiya bounces from cousin to boyfriend to cousin to girlfriend to cousin to boyfriend. They snuggle up and read books with her, put together a game of princess dominoes, or just chase her around while she screams and giggles.

Here are a few of my recent favourites:

Candice and Kaiya being goofy on the trampoline.

Jasmine finally reading one of the 20-minute long fairy tales she bought Kaiya for Christmas...

Devon reading another one of the 20-minute long fairy tales... I think he read three to her that day.

Scotty playing dominoes with Kaiya at his and Jasmine's very cool pad in T.O.

And although you can't see him here, that's Dustin playing tug-of-war with Kaiya with the new skipping rope Babi bought for her.

Last Sunday, while I was forever making bruschetta bread in Dagmar's swanky new kitchen (I swear I could cook all day in that kitchen...) I overheard Jasmine telling Dagmar about how Scott teases her about coming down for every single family birthday. She said to her mom, "Well, you know, Kathy and Jeff and Kaiya are leaving soon, so of course I want to come down as often as possible."

And my heart did a little tug, and I took a deep breath as that reality, and the sweetness of Jasmine's words, washed over me. I am acutely aware of each moment we spend with family and friends these days. And while I may make this transition look easy and carefree, it's the little moments like these when I remember how much we are leaving, and how deeply I will miss you all. (And how much I hope to convince many of you to come and visit!)

Thank you, Kaiya's cousins, for loving my girl, and for showing me what it means to be family. Love to you ALL!